October 2009 Bellringer Article

Seasons




And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let there be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.



As the leaves begin to fall, our thoughts and attitudes toward the weather outside may begin to change. The leaves start to turn from green to all the beautiful shades of fall foliage, twirling and floating to the ground. Watching the leaves fall awakens our senses to another changing of the seasons. We put away the shorts and swimsuits meant for the beach and pull out the flannel and wool that are meant to keep us warm. Sometimes we feel gloomy as we think about those warm, sunny days while dealing with dreary skies and long dark nights. These signs of the season are not the end, only part of this on-going process of life. We want these seasons to be short or nonexistent, longing for warm and sunny days. We have to deal with the things we cannot change or alter, which is very difficult for us fixer-upper types who want to be able to make everything right. In a sense we are all like that. We don’t want things to change. But without these changes in the seasons we wouldn’t have the all the beautiful hues of all the autumn colors and hot apple cider on cool crisp nights.

Often, we have the same feelings about the seasons of the lives of our families and loved ones. We don’t want to see our family members and friends get sick or face life threatening illnesses. The hardest part is when they don’t recover and their season of life ends. The end of their season also ends the season of their physical presence in our lives. But just like the leaves on the tree change color and fall, they return to the ground from which they once drew nourishment now becoming nourishment for others. Even though their physical presence is gone their memories last from one season to the next. Those memories are absorbed and passed on by those who loved them just like the nutrients from the leaves return life sustaining nourishment to whatever soil they have touched.

As it says in Ecclesiastes 3: 1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted. These words may bring comfort at times but still we are left with the loss of a loved one and we who are left behind have to come to terms with that loss. We have to learn to trust in God’s love and grace, believing in the promises of God even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. We must find confidence in knowing that God never leaves us or forsakes us.

Seasons change and we are changed by the seasons of those lives who are both here and those who are gone. With each passing season, we grow and mature as we are fed and nurtured by the lives and memories of our loved ones along with the love and presence of God.

Paul, in the 8th chapter of his letter to the Romans, reassures us he is convinced (and we should be too) that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The challenge for us is to remember when the seasons seem long and cold making us feel far removed from God’s love, which God is there through all the seasons of our life. So enjoy and endure the seasons knowing that we are being seasoned by and being seasoning for others through all our life experiences and we are sustained perpetually by the love of God.



Seasons Greetings

Vicar Paul